Finishing a drawing or painting that’s fun to work on and that comes together well is easy. But finishing difficult artwork is another story.
I’ve had my share of drawings that were difficult to finish, though not all of them were difficult for the same reasons. The fact is, I have current works-in-progress that are not finished because they, too, have not been easy to finish.
So what do you do when you’re confronted by a drawing that’s not turning out the way you want? That’s the topic for today.
Finishing Difficult Artwork
I want to look at this question in two ways. First, we’ll talk about why a drawing might be difficult. Knowing the source of the problem helps you decide what to do.
Then I’ll show you a couple of examples of difficult drawings that I was able to finish.
Reasons You Might Have a Difficult Drawing
A drawing might prove difficult if you’re trying new pencils or paper. If you happen to be trying new pencils on new paper, you’re doubling the opportunity for difficulties.
You might have a difficult drawing because the subject is unfamiliar. Choosing a more complex composition can also slow things down. When I stopped drawing horse heads and started drawing the whole horse, I had problems getting things right. When I started drawing action poses, I had problems again. I knew how to draw and paint horses, but each time I pushed the limits, I had difficulties. That’s natural.
Outside pressure can also make artwork difficult to finish or to make it look the way you want it to look. I spent most of my life with a full-time job. That limited the amount of time I had to paint and draw.
I also was doing commissioned portraits. Combine a deadline with limited painting time, and there will be the temptation to try shortcuts. Shortcuts may seem like a good idea, but they can really make finishing artwork more difficult.
So those are a few reasons you might have drawings that are difficult to finish. What do you do about them?
Suggestions for Finishing Difficult Artwork
Of course one option for dealing with difficult artwork is to abandon it. Whether you start over or go on to a new subject, this is one option you will probably consider. I wrote more about that in a previous post, so I only mention it as an option here. The purpose of this post is finishing difficult artwork, not abandoning it.
So let’s look at two of my difficult pieces that I was able to finish.
Portrait of Thomas
This portrait features one of our first two cats, Thomas. Thomas was sixteen when he died, and he lived with us for all but his first two or three months. He loved riding in cars and made the journey from Kansas to Michigan several times, often riding on the headrest behind my husband, watching passing traffic. You can imagine the second looks he got!
When he was no longer with us, I wanted to draw his portrait, and I knew which photo to use. I expected the portrait to come together easily, since I was so familiar with the subject.
It did not.
I started the portrait in January 2020.
I finished it in September 2023. Why did it take so long?
The main reason, is that I decided to use Pastelmat for the first time. So I was using a new paper; not just a new paper, but a new paper that’s dramatically different than any paper I’d used for a portrait before that. There was a significant learning curve.
But I had the background roughly half finished before I decided it wasn’t working. It looked believable in the reference photo, but didn’t translate will into artwork. I ended up scrapping the first version and starting over.
The second background worked much better, but I had problems with the cat. Mostly with the hair. Pastelmat takes a lot of layering and you can do a lot of things with it. But you have to figure out how to do those things.
I gave up on this portrait more than once. But I persevered and eventually finished it.
My Suggestion
When you find yourself in a similar situation, when you know what you need to do, but you don’t know how to do it, it’s okay to put the artwork aside for a while. Thomas’ portrait was idle for months at a time at least twice while I gained the skill and confidence to work on it again.
Second, don’t be afraid to try a more complex background, but be ready to simplify if necessary.
Portrait of Mercury
Next is the first horse portrait I drew on Pastelmat. Once I got started on the Pastelmat, I didn’t have many problems. The most persistent problems with this portrait had more to do with the blue roan coloring than anything. All those white hairs mixed in with darker colors. How on earth does one draw that?
The biggest difficult with this artwork was that I started it on Stonehenge paper. Why Stonehenge? All of my portraits used to be on Stonehenge, so I was familiar with it. I also had a deadline on this piece, since it was commissioned and was intended for a gift. A familiar paper made sense.
Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be a sensible decision.
The second mistake was using Faber-Castell Polychromos on Stonehenge. The Polychromos layered well for a short time. But I got this far in the portrait and the paper in the left ear began to scuff. Even using light pressure, the paper did not hold up under lots of layering.
I also realized there were serious problems with my original line drawing. Between the errors in drawing and choosing the wrong paper, this first attempt simply was not going to survive.
My Suggestion
Sometimes, the best solution to a difficult drawing is changing paper and starting over.
But difficult artwork can also be difficult if your line drawing is inaccurate.
In both cases, the only thing you can do is start over. As happened with this portrait, you may need to start over from scratch. If that’s what you need to do, just do it. You won’t be sorry. This horse portrait turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever done using colored pencils.
Those are Two Examples of Finishing Difficult Artwork
As I mentioned earlier, I still have one or two works-in-progress that are also proving difficult. I haven’t yet decided what to do about them though both of them have been in progress for more than a year.
If you take anything from this post, other than the helpful tips for finishing difficult artwork, please rest assured it’s not always your fault when things like this happen. Yes, the choices you make matter, but there are also just times when a piece doesn’t work out the way you hoped it would.
When that happens, it’s okay to set it aside for a while.
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